policy record. mitt romney says hope is not a strategy. the republican nominee told an audience at the virginia military institute that the president's leadership has been especially lacking in the middle east. >> it's clear that the risk of conflict in the region is higher now than when the president took office. it's time to change course in the middle east. that course should be organized around these bedrock principles. america must have confidence in our cause, clarity in our purpose and resolve in our might. >> the obama campaign is dismissing romney's remarks as sabre rattling aimed at covering up his own foreign blunders. >>> and the president is already pushing back with a brand-new ad highlighting romney's summer trip abroad and his initial response to the deadly u.s. embassy attacks in libya. >> and even republican experts said romney's remarks were the worst possible reaction to what happened. if this is how he handles the world now, just think what mitt romney might do as president. >>